Black Athletes Don’t Work on a Plantation

Donald Trump’s demand while addressing an adoring crowd of white folks in Huntsville, Alabama, that the rich, white, largely Republican owners of National Football League teams fire the “sons of bitches” among players who engage in symbolic protest has begun a fight he cannot win.

First, by using the term “son of bitch” to describe the protesters who are trying to bring light to the current racial injustices in American society, Trump insulted the mothers of African American athletes thereby crossing a line that few people are foolish enough to do.

What followed was an outpouring of solidarity and protest from athletes including two of the greatest basketball players in history, LeBron James and Steph Curry, as well as coaches, managers, and fans from coast to coast and even in London. (The growing racial awareness in professional sports today is reminiscent of the era of Muhammad Ali, Tommy Smith and John Carlos.)

Prior to Sunday’s NFL games the Seattle Seahawks’ players released a statement that sums up the sentiments of players throughout the league:

“We will not stand for the injustice that has plagued people of color in this country. Out of love for our country and in honor of the sacrifices made on our behalf, we unite to oppose those that would deny our most basic freedoms.”

Second, Trump chose to enunciate his “son of bitch” barbs aimed at black athletes in Alabama – the state with a checkered racial history, to say the least.

What followed from Trump after he sparked such a widespread backlash was the typical “punch, parry, kick” playbook Republicans use when they interject racism into the political discourse for electoral gain

From the Tuskegee syphilis experiments in Macon County to the Scottsboro Boys to the Montgomery bus boycott, to the fifty unsolved terror bombings targeting black people in Birmingham from 1947-1965, to the vicious attacks on Reverend Fred Shuttleworth’s church, to the dogs and fire hoses, “Bull” Connor and Governor George Wallace “standing in the schoolhouse door,” to the murder of four young girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church – Alabama has been the location of some of the worst racial violence in American history. Trump’s message in Alabama was clear: “You black athletes work on our plantations so don’t get uppity.”

What followed from Trump after he sparked such a widespread backlash was the typical “punch, parry, kick” playbook Republicans use when they interject racism into the political discourse for electoral gain as Ian Haney Lopez presents in Dog Whistle Politics, an important book about how right-wingers use race as a cudgel to beat up their opponents.

First Trump “punched” racism into the dialogue with his “son of bitch” statement before an adoring crowd of white Republicans in Alabama. Then he “parried” for the reporters saying that his words had “nothing to do with race.” What we’ll see next is the “kick” when Trump and his surrogates like Laura Ingraham, Breitbart, Drudge, and Fox News denounce the African American athletes for being the ones responsible for interjecting race in politics. It’s a classic tactic that people like Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh have perfected over the years.

What Trump needs to learn is that there are no professional sports in this country without African American athletes. Colin Kaepernick, who grew up in northern California and is clearly cognizant of the activism of black athletes who came before him (such as Tommy Smith and John Carlos who were San Jose State students) as well as the power of high profile athletes to bring attention to racial injustice has started something big.

If Trump continues down this racist path through the rest of the football season the black NFL players should contemplate a direct action this February at the Super Bowl – that unparalleled orgy of advertising dollars and unbridled consumer capitalism unique to the United States – and SHUT IT DOWN!

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed here are those of the individual contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the LA Progressive, its publisher, editor or any of its other contributors.

Comments

And to talk about the NFL as a plantation is absurd. The minimum wage in the NFL is $450,000 – 10 years of a median U.S. worker’s wage – and most make a lot more. For most of them, in 2 or 3 years they make more than the average American worker will make his or her entire life. And unlike slaves, they can quit any time they want. But if you want to lose sight of the issue here so much that you have no hope of getting any but a tiny minority to listen to you, go ahead.

When professional athletes – black, white, Hispanic or whatever – are playing a game they are at work. They are not there to present their own personal political or social statements. They are there to play a game and entertain the team’s customers. When the team’s customers sit there and see a group of players engage in political protest or social commentary they say to themselves “What would happen to ME if I stood up at work on company time in front of a bunch of our customers and did this? Especially knowing it would offend many of them? My ass would be FIRED. Who are these guys to think they are so privileged that they can do this? On my time and my dime?”

These athletes are not exercising their First Amendment rights. The First Amendment protects you (among other things) from governmental restrictions on your right to free speech. It does not have anything to do with stopping your employer from restricting your right to offer politically or socially oriented commentary at work, especially in front of the customers. I recognize the righteousness and legitimacy of what the players are protesting as clear, and if they did it on their own time off the field they should be completely defended against any action that the league or their team would want to take against them. But just as what some people see as a flag that celebrates Southern heritage is seen by others as a symbol of racism, what some people see as legitimate protest others see as disrespect for the country. And the latter are the ones paying the money that goes into the pockets of the league and the players. If the players keep this up and the league does nothing, the NFL is going to start losing money.

This argument of protesting on your free time is not possible. At least one professional player was released from his contract for doing what you recommend.

These are star athletes. We do not own them. They train constantly. They are away from families. Their bodies are injured as they play for our enjoyment. They lose their anonymity. And we refuse to let them protest about American citizens who are mistreated!! Will you protest? I doubt it. Is it possible their protest is against actions you do without awareness? You need to answer that for yourself.

It is to our Constitution we swear allegiance. The flag and our national anthem are symbols, They do not replace the US Constitution.

I see American flags attached to car antennas that are frayed and in a ragged condition. By law, these flags should be ceremoniously burned and buried. When one will not protect an American flag from being seen destroyed, how can they demand someone to not protest the unfairness of the practice of our laws by those representing our government.

Our national leaders bilk the system for personal gain and we let them. This is implicit approval. But we will not let a portion of our population protest unfair actions of our governmental system. We need to understand why their actions of protest offend us. We also need to understand we do not own these athletes. We may actually begin to understand why we accept deaths of black youths who do nothing different than we do. These athletes reveal a truth about our culture we do not want to accept as wrong. We need to address this issue.

TRUMP also complained that changes in rules to protect the brains of players are ruining the football game. The referee penalized the players for these illegal actions and Trump said the ref was enforcing rules that ruined the game. TBI’s have the potential of ruining lives. Again these are excellent athletes who risk permanent brain injuries or even death for our entertainment. And we will not let them protest?

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